Got the BBC, end of the Platinum Jubilee celebrations, Nadal King of tennis, Boris Johnson wounded but won't resign, off to Montrondo, time out in the village and other stories.

Sunday, 12th June, 2022

Stop for lunch at Palacio de Bornos in Rueda on Wednesday ´- love that place

Good morning again friends and readers.  I am writing from our house in Montrondo where we have escaped from the heat of Madrid. How is life? I can't complain or shouldn't at least. I don't have a perfect life but it's as good as it gets. 

One thing missing from my life as a "Brit abroad" was the good old BBC. Thus I missed out on a lot of the Platinum Jubilee Celebrations. An old pupil of my father, Michael, who lives in France, sorted that for me last Sunday when he suggested I sign up for Express VPN. I had been thinking about it for a while and upon his recommendation I downloaded it and paid for one year. I did so on my iPad and on my Samsung Galaxy phone. It worked but is not perfect as the BBC often detects that the VPN is not in England and adds cookies and it crashes while watching. The only way round that would be to use someone's Apple ID who lives in England and get the iPlayer app. As an iPad owner in Spain I only get directed to the Spanish Apple store when downloading apps and to get the iPlayer I would need a UK Apple ID. But that is maybe a lot to ask of a friend. I don't know. I'm still thinking about it. For the meanwhile though now I have access not only to the BBC but also ITV and Channel 5, albeit sometimes interrupted. 

I've finally got access to the BBC in Spain although illicitly 

That day then I caught up with some of the Jubilee content I had missed such as the Platinum Party at Buckingham Palace on Saturday night. It was splendid but I am no great fan of rock so only really appreciated Queen but then again Queen is not the same without Freddy Mercury is it. The best part and the part we shall never forget was the clip of Paddington Bear having tea with Her Majesty at Buckingham Palace. What a splendid bit of British humour and TV at its very, very best. I also watched the documentary called "Elizabeth: The Unseen Queen"  - the story of her life in picture and in film, most of which came from her own private collection. Marvelous. 

The Queen was also largely unseen at the Jubilee celebrations owing to her age mostly but she made a surprise appearance on the balcony of the palace on Sunday afternoon after a huge pageant on the streets of London. It was to close the Jubilee and to thank everyone. She appeared with the closest royals, Prince Charles and Camilla, Prince William, Kate and their 3 children including Prince George. That represented 4 generations and 4 generations of monarch and future monarchs. There was little seen of the Sussexes that day or any day and as to Prince Andrew, he conveniently had Covid. Here is our lovely Queen dressed in emerald green who had traveled from Windsor Castle to the Palace for the surprise appearance which delighted crowds and royal fans.

The Queen in a surprise appearance at BP on Sunday night to close the celebrations of her Platinum Jubilee

Meanwhile, her cousins,  the King of Spain and Norway's Crown Prince Haakon were in Paris at Roland Garros, the site of the French Open. They were there to watch the King of tennis, Rafa Nadal of Spain and his Norwegian pupil Casper Ruud at his tennis academy in Mallorca, play the final. It was the first time in history a Norwegian tennis player took part in a Grand Slam final. For the Spaniard,  it was his 30th Grand Slam final and his 17th  Paris Open.  He first won in 2005 aged just 19 and he won yesterday aged 36. He now has 14 French Cups and 22 Grand Slam wins. That makes him the GOAT (greatest of all times) in men's singles tennis. Let's not forget that Steffi Graf also has 22 Grand Slam titles. However, no one comes close to him in Paris. No one has ever won a grand slam 14 times. 

The figures that show Nadal is the G.O.A.T in men's tennis

The twitter handle of Roland Garros very fittingly called him "Rafa Garros".

He broke so many records last Sunday and Spain could not have a greater ambassador for sport. But and it's a big but, Rafa Nadal has an incurable injury on his foot - necrosis of a bone - and he had to be injected for the tournament meaning he felt completely numb in his foot. So, how long can he carry on for? It depends on his foot of course. For me, it would be the perfect time to retire, on such a high. However, he still loves the game and wants to continue if he is physically able to. Thus, as with the Queen, I also say "long may he reign". 

Our own Sunday was also a family day when we were all reunited. I went for a walk with Pippa on my own while Eladio washed the Volvo and mowed the smaller lawns. I had my headphones on and as it was Sunday I played my British hymns list. That had me thinking of my father's memorial service just one month ago; how marvelous it was and how I am so grateful to all those who made it possible. I can't stop thinking about it. 

I came home to make our lunch as Oli and Juliet were coming - Miguel went to his mother's with Elliot. With the help of Lucy and Suzy I made a family favourite; potato salad. The kitchen was busy as we had 6 guests that day - the Chinese family and  two young American girls, Emily and Sarah. Emily is actually from Puerto Rico so that day we had 6 nationalities in the house- The United Nations hahahaha.  Eladio and I  had our mid morning coffee talking to Jayzay and Yinzi and spoke about China and how it is such an enigma to the west. This young couple with two kids (they say they are unique vs a vs the one child policy) are very very critical of the Chinese communist regime. They told us that many, many people are but just can't speak out in public. I asked them about their parents and grandparents and what life was like for them during the terrible "cultural revolution". Our conversation was fascinating. As Airbnb hosts, I have to say it's not just about the money to help run our big house, it's also about meeting interesting people from all over the world.

As there are so many eating places in the house and garden, there were plenty for everyone to choose from. We had ours on the kitchen patio which is really our domain. The girls and Juliet then retired to the shady part of the pool while Eladio and I went up to have our siesta. Before falling asleep I watched a bit of "Elizabeth: The Unseen Queen and later went down to join the girls. I had to catch Suzy on camera with Juliet who turned 9 months old last week. She really is the loveliest baby in the world who  hardly ever cries. 

Suzy and Juliet chilling out on the grass by the pool last Sunday

Oli left around 6.30 and so did Suzy but she was back for dinner.  It had been the perfect day. There was a low point though and that was to hear from Lucy, my neighbour in Santa Pola, who cleans the apartment, that this weekend's guests had been complete pigs and left the place the worst she had ever seen. I have reported the guests to Booking but unfortunately the platform does not allow hosts to evaluate guests although, most unfairly, guests can evaluate hosts. 

How this weekend's guests left the apartment in Santa Pola- disgraceful. 

I was upset but refused the incident to spoil my day which otherwise had been perfect.

We watched more of the new season of Borgen that night and then when my husband fell asleep I resumed watching the documentary about the Queen. She must have felt very happy and content that night as so she should, God bless her.

Monday came. On the personal side, it was one month since my father's Memorial Service at Bradford Cathedral. If you didn't watch it, you can see it on my YouTube channel here. I did him proud in organising the best send off possible for a wonderful father, teacher, polyglot and WW2 Royal Navy veteran officer. None of it would have been possible without the help of many who I would like to thank in public.  I hope I don't miss out on anyone. They are the Acting Dean of Bradford Cathedral, Revd. Paul Maybury, the Headmaster of Bradford Grammar School, Simon Hinchcliffe, Emma Clayton of the Telegraph and Argus, Cllr. Joanne Dodds, the Champion of the Armed Forces in Bradford, Helen Johnston, the Policy Officer, the British Royal Legion, The Royal Navy,  Chaplain of the Royal Navy, Revd. Chris Buckley, the Deputy Lord Lieutenant, David Pearson and Revd Barrie Scott, my father's old pupil who took part in the service and helped me put it together. I would especially like to thank the 12 who attended but above all John Asquith for his magnificent speech and for attending all three events. Thanks too to my father's old colleagues, Tony Kingham and Ian Stoney. I am grateful to  the Leonard-Myers family  as well.  I consider them  my family in England although they are not my blood relations. Bless them, they were with us throughout.  And of course I want to thank my wonderful family for being there and supporting me and for how well my daughters Olivia and Suzy sang for their grandfather. He would be proud of them of them. I know. So thank you all again and thanks  to all of you who watched the service online. 

On Monday morning Suzy would be leaving again. She is always leaving and then coming back thankfully. She has to find her place in this world and I only wish good things for her. Here she is leaving on Monday for Santa Pola again.

Suzy leaving again on Monday

When she left we both went to our hairdresser, Conchi, for a well needed cut and root treatment in my case, hahahahaha. 

Meanwhile in England, Boris Johnson who needs no introduction, was facing the trial of his premiership. He was facing a vote of no confidence after 54 Tory MPs had submitted a letter calling for his resignation. He needed 180 of his more 359 fellow MPs to vote against him for him to resign. In the end 148 voted against and 211 for him. He came out of it the wounded victor yet vows to carry on. It is a fact that his predecessors, Margaret Thatcher and Teresa May came out better from their votes of confidence yet went on to resign. He has to go but he won't until he is dragged out of Downing Street. He is unfit for the job and that is a fact. If it hadn't just been his own party members who voted that day and it had been the public, I think he may have lost. Did you see how he was booed when he arrived at the Platinum Jubilee Thanksgiving Service at St. Paul?

Oh the Platinum Jubilee. Thanks to my father's ex pupil, Michael, now that I had the BBC, I was able to catch up on the events and spent 90 minutes watching a summary programme that afternoon from the comfort of the bench outside our kitchen. I enjoyed every blessed minute of it. The Brits do pomp so well but as the commentator said, "not pompously".

Eladio joined me for part of it and was impressed too. But he had work to do. He washed both cars and mowed the two smaller lawns. I did not do much else I am ashamed to say.

Tuesday came and the news was full of the result of the Confidence Vote. Oli, my daughter was asked at the last moment to do a piece in the studio on what the reaction of the UK papers was. She asked me for help and I, in turn, asked my father's ex pupil, Michael, who is something of an expert on UK politics. She had to choose 3 front pages and went for The Times (a wounded victor) The Mirror (Party's over Boris) and The Daily Star (Carry on Pinocchio). 

Some of Tuesday's front pages in the UK papers

Both Michael who switched his VPN to Madrid, watched her live. Even after all these years I still get a thrill from seeing her on TV. I always like to help her when she turns to me and this of course was an interesting topic for a news journalist. Here she is in action. I didn't like her dress. She didn't either but said she had no time to choose anything as she was working on the topic right up until she went on live. That's live TV for you I suppose.

Oli on TV on Tuesday morning

I am very disappointed with the British Government and even more so now when the horrible new policy of sending illegal immigrants to Rwanda is about to start with the first flight scheduled next week. I can't believe the British government is doing this. I know someone who works in the Home Office. He explained that the policy was to deter immigrants from coming to England which I heartily disagree with.   For Iranians, Afghans, Syrians, etc, being sent to Rwanda must be nearly as awful as staying in their own countries. This reminds me of Nazism when Hitler wanted to send the Jews to Madasgacar. My mother who arrived in England as an immigrant just after WW2 would have been appalled. Even then it wasn't easy for people like her. In order to get a residency permit she had to work as a cleaner for 2 years! That is awful too but better than being sent to Rwanda. 

Tuesday 7th would have been her birthday. I only wish she could have seen Oli on TV this week,  see the girls now and of course our grandchildren. She left us on 1st October 1999 and was reunited with my father on 5th May last. Oh, how I miss them. I no longer have my father to say "today would have been Mummy's birthday" so I kept it to myself but thought about her quietly. 

Here are two photos to mark the day. The black and white one is of her aged 18 in Bulgaria. That photo has wording on it in French which I can't decipher. I have an inkling it was the one she used in Germany during the war to forge papers to leave Berlin for Vienna before the Red Army came.  She did so with her brother Nicky on an old Germany typewriter at the Gestapo headquarters while the  latter were literally fleeing. She always told me the photo was one her younger brother kept with him, telling people it was his girlfriend. It's a good job he had it otherwise there would have been no escape papers for her. 

My mother aged 18

The other  one is with George and I was taken at the University of East Anglia during the famous Norwich Russian Courses in the early to mid 70's. It is one I treasure. 

My mother with George and I in the mid 70's - one I treasure

So I thought about her a lot that day and even shed a tear in bed at night. When I think I am the only one left in our family it makes me sad. 

What makes me happy is the family Eladio and I have created. As we went on errands that morning we commented on our feelings for each other. We are not often romantic but my goodness that day just as we were reaching El Corte Inglés department store to pick up Eladio's new suit, he told me I was his universe. He is mine of course but what a beautiful way to say he loved me. Later that night he told me he had been inspired by a poem by Victor Hugo ( Quand nous habitions ensemble) which he recited to me in French . His memory for poems is daunting but in French even more so don't you think? One of the things I admire most in my husband is his just how cultured he is. Not many husbands or lovers would be inspired by a poem by Victor Hugo in French if they are not French. What a good education he had. Mine pales in comparison.  PS The poem is about paternal love but there is nothing paternal about my husband's love for me. 

If French is synonymous with chic, that is just what my husband looked when he tried on the Calvin Klein suit we had bought for an upcoming wedding and for future use. He looked chic and dashing and will look a lot better in it with a proper shirt and tie - or rather a bow tie which he usually wears. I can hardly believe my husband is the age he is. 

Eladio in his new suit which we picked up on Tuesday morning

We later did some last minute food shopping and were home a bit late for lunch served by dear Lucy. Oli and the babies were supposed to be coming in the afternoon but Juliet was not well and they had to go to the health centre. She has an ear infection poor lamb. Thus we spent the afternoon alone. Our Chinese guests were by the pool too but they don't go in. I must say we actually enjoy hosting Jayzay, Yinzi and their girls Isabel and Lucia. I wonder what their Chinese names are.

My husband had been clearing out the garage and out came odd objects to be reused such as a beautiful candle lantern but also a bird house for a tree. He climbed his ladder to put it in one of the horse chestnut trees by the pool in the shady part we always like to sit in. Here he is up the tree with the bird house. It had belonged to Suzy and she was delighted her father was putting it to good use.

Eladio up the tree where he put a bird's house 

Meanwhile, I finally decided to take the plunge and take my first bathe of the year. It was 30ºc and the pool was there all for me so what better moment? 

I took my first bathe on Tuesday

The water was warm and I went in quite a few times. That night I urged my husband to go out to dinner and he agreed. So off we went to the nearest good restaurant in the area; El Tinglado. We had a great meal and I do love that place if only it wasn't for the damned music which I had to ask them to turn down.

We were home early as we are not ones to linger over dinner. We watched some more of Borgen and then I turned to the BBC to finish watching the documentary about the Queen's Coronation where she is actually interviewed. I love her but was surprised just how dry her commentary was - a bit cold too. When that was finished I turned to a documentary made by her family of her "strength and stay", Prince Philip. I found it fascinating but eventually fell asleep. Thank you again Michael for helping me set up the VPN to be able to watch British "telly".

Wednesday came, the day we were off to Montrondo and then to Asturias. We would be away for 10 days and Lucy would be holding the fort for us. My good morning photo was the one below;  my coffee in my favourite Emma Bridgewater mug by the freshly mowed lawn - bliss

Morning coffee in the garden

We set off at around 11 am, had a coffee on the away - yes another - and then stopped at Palacio de Bornos in Rueda (the white wine growing area) for lunch. We always stop there. It is one of our favourite places. That's why. 

Eladio about to dig in.

We bought some wine of course and just as we were leaving I spied a big flock of sheep passing by. The picture would have been perfect if it wasn't for the ugly rubbish containers (hate the word waste). They are omnipresent in our lives and I hate them. 

The flock of sheep in Rueda

We had a quiet drive with not much traffic and arrived in Montrondo which looked pretty quiet too at around 4.30. The temperature was about 15ºc and it was raining! What a change from Madrid.

We soon settled in. I continued watching the documentary about Prince Philip on my iPad with my newly acquired access to the BBC but the signal is pretty patchy here so it kept freezing. I had a quick skype call with my friend Amanda and then did my accounting. 

We had a light dinner and began a new series on Netflix called Miss Jerusalem, an Israeli series set in at the beginning of the last century. I slept quite well that night and was up at 6.30 on Thursday morning. 

Even though we had brought some provisions it wouldn't be enough until we leave tomorrow so off we went to Villablino, the nearest large town, to Gadis, that superb supermarket that unfortunately only has stores in the north of Spain. There we had a coffee of course and remarked that there are no nice cafeterias. There aren't. Villablino is not an attractive town. We came home to make a barbecue just for the two of us.

Here is Eladio grilling our lamb chops and chorizo. It was delicious.

Eladio in charge of the barbecue

I spent the afternoon lazily. We should have gone for a walk I suppose and then soon it was time for dinner. Thursday was all about eating I'm afraid. But I made something special that night; clams in seafood sauce (almejas a la marinera).

Almejas a la marinera 

It was nice to be on our own but thoughts of our family are never far away so we were delighted to see a photo of little Juliet Oli sent to the family whattsap group. Here she is, smiling away, and standing up in her play cot. What a little love she is.

Little Juliet getting bigger

Of course we watched the news which was depressing. The war continues in Ukraine, Algeria threatened Spain with cutting off relations which is important as this country gets all its gas from Algeria. The reason? Spain's attitude to Morocco, their hated neighbour and all because of the former Spanish territory, Western Sahara, which wants to become independent from Morocco. But there was one story which, although depressing in its own right, really caught my attention and that is because it was about animals, bears in this case.

Spain has a population of between 200 and 300 Iberian brown bears in the north of the country, mainly in Leon, Palencia and Asturias. The day we arrived here, our neighbour, Guzmán, told Eladio how he and his wife had encountered one not from far from this village. The story in the news which has now spread internationally is about how a male bear attacked a female bear to kill its baby bear. Not being the father, the intention is to kill the young and make the female fertile again so that it can mount the female. This is apparently common practice and rather savage but it happens in the animal world. The fight took place on the side of a rocky mountain and was captured on camera by two passersby and the video which you can see here went viral. The mother bear fought valiantly to protect her cub and during the fight, the male bear got knocked off a cliff and went tumbling down to its death.  

The male bear which fell off a cliff to its death

The mother bear fell too but  apparently survived as did the cub. Bear conservationists have placed a camera in the bear den and have left food for mother and baby. We now know the cub is unscathed but the mother has yet to be seen. What a story. It comes after the Paddington bear story last week during the Platinum Jubilee but is of a very different nature. 

Friday came and it was to be a scorcher in most of Spain. In some parts the temperature would rise to above 40ºc. We were told by the weather people that this could be one of the earliest heat waves in years. Thankfully it was not so hot in Montrondo but did reach 35ºc in León, the capital town of the province where we spent most of the day on Friday. Eladio and his brothers and sisters had an appointment in the city so we left at 10 ish. We thought it was only an hour to the city but it is nearly 1.5h and we were a bit late. I stayed outside with Pippa and was joined by my sister-in-law Dolores and we had a coffee together in a shady street. We then went in search of a "hole in the wall" which was an excuse for killing time before lunch with Eladio's family at 2 pm. I also searched for some comfortable walking sandals but didn't find anything suitable. 

We were back in the village by 5 or so. As Montrondo is so high up - at over 1000 metres, the temperatures here are cooler but even so it was around 28ºc or so. We lay outside on the sun loungers but in the shade of course. The garden behind our house is called "La Era" and we love it. It's so quiet and peaceful and no one can see you. Pippa loves it too.

Chilling out in Montrondo

The grass in La Era was knee deep when we arrived so my dear husband had to cut it with a scythe. Yes, he knows how to use one as when he was young he always had to help his father to cut the long grass in their various fields. It was to make hay for their herd of cows. He really is a shepherd boy. He cut it the day we arrived and then on Friday he took the bales of hay with a huge old fashioned fork and I had to capture him on camera. He is a man of many talents. Yes he is a philosopher but with his feet firmly on the ground (at times hahahahha). 

Eladio with his bale of hay

Far away in the south east of the country, Oli and her little family had arrived at a place called Oliva on the Valencian coast where they have been staying at a friend's house this weekend. We were delighted to get photos of them on the beach which I have to share with you to record their stay.

Olivia and her family on holiday this weekend in Oliva (Valencia)

I imagine it was hot in that area so no doubt they will be enjoying bathing in the sea. Soon we will too, I hope, when we go to Asturias tomorrow. 

Saturday was the feast of Corpus Christi in Montrondo which is always celebrated here, except that I had never coincided. It rained in the morning and if I wanted to go out I had to change into warmer clothes  - leggings, a fleece and even a jacket. I didn't really want to go the Mass but was keen to see the procession. Difficult to describe, so here is a video and some pictures for you to get the idea. 

Pictures of the procession to honour the Feast of Corpus Christi yesterday in Montrondo

It was mostly members of Eladio's family up front but my husband had stayed at home. He was not particularly interested. I suppose that's because he has seen it so many times in his life. Most villagers had dressed up for the occasion as is the tradition here so I felt rather under dressed but who cares? I felt comfortable didn't I?

I went home to relate the events to my husband who was interested to know who had led the procession. When he was a priest many moons ago, it would have been him saying Mass and leading it. I wonder if he thought about that while I was out watching it for the first time?

We had a simple lunch of sausages, steak and chips (naughty but nice). My siesta was very long and I was woken up by my sister-in-law and her daughter at 6 p - I suppose I needed to catch up on my sleep. I had a cup of tea with them, or rather decaf tea so as to be able to sleep that night. I then joined the family who were celebrating one of the youngest member's birthday. There are so many great nieces and nephews I wished Elliot was there to play with them. But he is away at the beach with his parents. He will be here at the end of July though and I look forward to that. Montrondo is a great place for small children; there are lots of them and it is very safe.

It began to rain at around 7pm which we found strange. That's why it's so green here  I suppose. Later last night there was a tremendous thunderstorm with lightening and thunder which terrified poor Pippa. It terrified her so much we had to take her to bed with us. Then it started pouring it down and the noise was very loud.  Eladio went out to look and oh my goodness there was a very strong hail storm. But this morning the sun is out and it looks like it will be a pleasant day. 

Next week I shall be writing from our other village, "El Cuetu" in Asturias where we are taking Eladio's brother and wife who haven't seen our "new" house yet. We are looking forward to time out there too, time out that I think we deserve after all of this year's stress. You will hear all about our tales there in next week's blog post. Meanwhile, I wish you all well and hope that you have a great day.

Cheers till next Sunday,

Masha